Hand me some fun.
Jimmy Gestapo rolls
among an over-amped
crowd while spitting out
his vocal duties.
Photo: Bruce Rhodes
URRAY'S
by Mike Gitter
"Fooooodfiiight!!!" So this is
what happens when Astoria
Queens' pride and joy, Murphy's
Law, geta little rambunctious
backstage at any given ten-
thousand seat arena. What punk
rock band gets the creature com-
forts of carpeting, deli-trays, fresh
towels and a sauna in their very
own dressing room? Go on tour
with the Beastie Boys, the number
one rap/rock outfit in America and
find out.
Vocalist Jimmy Gestapo is the
kind of kid who stuck gum in your
hair in fourth grade. And don't put
it past him now. Forget the nutri-
tional value of a plate of grapes as
Jimmy hurls them at recently add-
ed second guitarist Todd, who
quickly answers back with a volley
of cheese and crackers. Despite
his age (sixteen), Todd has put in
time with nearly every major New
York hardcore band, including
Agnostic Front, the Cro-Mags, War-
zone and Skinhead Youth, Lead
axeman Alex "Uncle Al" Morris
smirks and ducks a splash of beer,
which then soaks bassist Pete
Martinez. Drummer Dougie Beans,
who recently took over for current
Cro-Mags skin pounder Petey
Hines, comes bursting into the
dressing room shouting something
about one very pissed-off head of
Civic Center Security.
Fast and mustached, the securi-
ty head comes shambling into the
beer-soaked battleground yelling
something about having the place
spotless in fifteen minutes. He
leaves to a host of "fuck you's" in-
termixed with mocking laughter as
crucial roadie Joe Bruno passes
brooms and mops to everyone in
sight. You just can't take these
guys anywhere.
"We had nothing else to do,"
smirks Gestapo in regard to the
band's current nation-wide tour
with the Beasties." They said, "Yo,
Murphy's Law, want to come on
tour with us?'and they gave us a
tour bus with two VCR's. How
could we refuse?"
"It's been a culture shock for a
lot of people," says Al.
"We played to thousands of
skinheads, rockers and home-
boys," interrupts Jimmy. "and
everyone's liked us so far. What the
hey? We're a multi-functional
band; we'll play anywhere from
your shower stall to Madison
Square Garden."
As the first hardcore band to play
in auditoriums all over the country,
Murphy's Law is breaking new
ground. Although they've attracted
a flurry of criticism, these NY beer
gods feel they have kept their in-
tegrity and commitment intact.
"We're helping the hardcore
scene," says Jimmy, "since we're
building a lot more respect for
hardcore bands. It's not a situation
where the promoter's doing us a
favor for giving us a show. He's also
giving us food, a place to sleep and
transportation. That's the way it
should be for any band that works
hard."
For the first time, hardcore has
been placed in front of thousands
who had never seen or known
about it before and Murphy's feel
responsible for exposing it as an
energetic and positive alternative.
"By playing these arenas we have
played in front of three to five-
hundred-thousand people," muses
Al."'We've exposed a lot of people
who never would have known
about us or the type of band we
are. Maybe they'll be into check-
ing us out and seeing what's
behind us, which is a scene that
could probably open doors for a lot
of people."
"After every show we try to come
out and meet a lot of people," says
Jimmy."A lot of the people we've
been playing for have been bet-
ween the ages of twelve and twen-
ty and since we've been playing a
lot of smaller cities, where there
isn't any kind of real hardcore
scene, a lot of the kids will just bug
out and want to know everything
about it. We tell them how to find
out."
"Shave your head, buy a pair of
Doc Martin's..." interjects Todd.
"Read a whole lot of fanzines,"
adds Jimmy.
"And they'll have their quiz on
Friday," finishes Al.
Murphy's lends support to the
younger, developing NY outfits,
attesting to their deep commitment
to the hardcore scene. When not
on the road, Gestapo and the crew
frequent CBGB's matinees, and
Jimmy works as a bouncer at both
the Pyramid and the Ritz, two other
Apple venues known for their hard-
core shows."I don't want to say that
we're the saviors of hardcore," says
Al, "but what we're doing could be
a logical next step. The Beastie
Boys brought us into these arenas,
we definitely couldn't get into them
on our own, but it does give a lot
of legitimacy to what bands like us
are doing. Who knows? Maybe
we'll play these stages again with
bands like the Bad Brains."
"Every music scene gets to be
really big," feels Dougie. "Now it's
rap's turn to get really big and do
all these arenas. Heavy metal has
already had its turn, and it's star-
ting to die and grasp onto hardcore.
It would be great to see twenty-
thousand kids going to see the Bad
Brains at Madison Square Garden.
Just imagine the pit."
Throughout their current tour,
Murphy's Law has maintained their
high energy party attitude gigging
with the Beasties, Fishbone and
revolutionary rappers Public
Enemy.
"We're not homeboys or
skinheads or anything like that,"
says Al.
"Naaah," interjects Jimmy.
"we're just a bunch of dudes who
like to drink beer, have sex, enjoy
life, listen to rock 'n' roll and play
rock'n' roll."
Murphy's history dates back to
a New Year's Eve, 1982, jam bet-
ween Jimmy, Al, original bassist
Adam and none other than current
Cro-Mag Harley Flannagan on
drums. At that time they ground out
an impromptu version of "Fun,""
which appears in a slightly more
finished form on their recently
released self-titled Lp on the Pro-
file/Rock Hotel label, along with
covers of "Wild Thing" and "Step-
ping Stone." Surprisingly enough.
the equipment they were using that
New Year's Eve belonged to San
Francisco's stalwart politicos MDC.
"We've been really fortunate,"
remarks Jimmy. "All throughout
the four-and-a-half years 'we've
been together, people have been
simply asking us to do stuff. After
that first jam at the Plugs Club,
people were asking us to do stuff,
so we said, 'Oh shit, we'd better
write some songs.' So we wrote an
entire set. From then to now,
especially with this huge tour, peo-
ple have been cool by giving us a
number of tremendous oppor-
tunities."
Life on the road with the
Beasties, playing forty-three cities
in fifty-three days means nearly
non-stop partying and long
stretches of driving, VCR favorites
include Mad Max, The Road
Warrior, assorted smut, Polyester
and three straight hours of car-
toons."I watch Scarface every night
before I go to bed," jokes Todd.
Future plans for the band in-
clude extensive touring of the US,
recording a new album and
heading to Europe.
"I'm really happy about:
everything that's happened," con-
cludes Jimmy. "Heck, we've even
had homeboys slamming and do-
ing stage dives. What more could
a bunch of guys from Astoria,
Queens want?"
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